Bandi Bhageerath nabbed by Telangana Police after look-out notice in POCSO case

Bandi Sai Bhageerath was arrested on Saturday by the Telangana police at around 8 PM at the APPA Junction in Hyderabad, CMO officials told THE WEEK.

This comes hours after a look-out notice was filed against him in connection with the ongoing Prevention of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) case.

The son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay is currently being shifted to the Pet Basheerabad Police Station.

However, while Hyderabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar said that they had arrested the accused, the Union minister insisted that his son had come forward in surrender.

"Today I have handed over my son Bandi Bhageerath before the police through an advocate for investigation ... I have previously said that all are equal before the law. My son has consistently said that he has committed no wrongdoing, and I had previously decided to hand him over to the police when the complaint was filed against him," Bandi Sanjay was quoted as saying in an X post.

"Then, we handed over all the evidence to the legal teams, and after seeing it, they said that bail would be granted in the case. That is why there was a delay in the surrender. I have full respect for the judiciary," he added.

However, the High Court's refusal to grant him interim protection and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's insistence that Bandi Bhageerath surrender are said to have ramped up the pressure in the case.

The Telangana High Court's refusal comes on the back of the police continuing raids in Hyderabad, Karimnagar, and New Delhi since morning, in addition to successfully proving that the victim was a minor. 

While the victim's counsel has also alleged that Bhageerath had harassed four other girls, who would come out against him in due course, and that he was using his father's influence to divert the course of the investigation—which included attempts at mediation.

Bhageerath's counsel, however, has rejected the influence claims, pointing out that Bandi Sanjay was not even in power in the state anymore, and that the addition of stronger POCSO sections in the case against Bhageerath was done by the police “with mala fide intent”.

With inputs from K. Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy